Friday, 25 July 2014

Portobello Beach in Edinburgh in the summer.This summer has been amazing here so far with so many sunny and hot days when you can wear summer clothes. That's how summer should always look like here. I can only agree with those who say that "nothing is impossible" and add that life is more beautiful when the sun does not forget about Scotland.

Saturday, 12 April 2014

I spent three unforgettable weeks in Sri Lanka. It was the first time in my life that I went to a country which is kind of different from the European countries. At the beginning I was shocked by many things, but then got used to them. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with nice people, spectacular nature, impressive mountains, great beaches and fantastic weather.

Srilankan people are very nice, open and hospitable. I had an opportunity to be in many Srilankan houses as my husband's family live there and they were very nice and hospitable.

As I look different from the local people I aroused their interest so obviously they were looking at me with a shy, curious look. There was nothing wrong with it and I think that Polish people should learn from them how to look and not to stare or give a killing look as unfortunately we are the best in it. In Sri Lanka people lead simple life and they look really happy. I found there many things which we had in Poland during communism when life was not easy and we did not have many things so we had to find a way to cope somehow. Travelling across Sri Lanka is another interesting matter. There are too many vehicles and not enough roads which means that travelling takes a lot of time and sometimes it is even shocking how much time it takes to get from point A to point B when both points are so close from each other. The surface of the roads is not bad at all, but with so many vehicles on the roads it is just hard to overtake, but even when you do it, there are another vehicles in front of you so driving is really tiring. However, the way they overtake may be crazy, but there is one good thing about it as they give space to the vehicle which overtakes and do not accelerate, which would be rare in my country.

It looks like buses rule the roads, especially the red ones which belong to the government. They simply dislike when someone tries to overtake them and will not make your life easy. Apart from the buses, there are a lot of three wheelers, motorcycles and cars, which are usually new and expensive. In Sri Lanka if you do not have a permit to buy a car, you need to pay 200% tax so do not ask me how people mange to do it as I still have not figured it out how they can afford a car.

There is a highway in Sri Lanka, but the new sections of it are still being built. It is a toll highway which is cheap for foreigners and saves a lot of time.

If you travel across Sri Lanka you will experience beeping. It is so irritating as they beep all the time. I noticed that it is a kind of language they use, especially when they overtake they always beep, but sometimes it is like a never ending beeping which only made me aggressive.

The buses are very old and it is better if I do not know what condition they are in. Apart from the driver, there is another man who collects money, encourages people to get on and maybe hurry them up when they get off. They shout in their own language so obviously I did not understand what they were saying. Just one important thing to remember if you use them, stop being polite by letting other people get on the bus first. You know what they say: "When in Rome, do as Romans do" so squeeze as quickly as you can because the driver does not care about the safety of the passengers and it is common that the bus moves before you mange to get on or get out of the bus. Srilankan people know how to deal with it, but it may be very dangerous to us so be careful. In general I would say that "safety" does not exist there. If you want to cross the street, there are zebra crossings, but no traffic lights which means that you have to try to cross the road in front of the speeding vehicles which is quite scary. Sunday seems to be a normal day with open shops till late. People do go to churches or temples, children have religion classes, but that's it. As you know there are many different religions in Sri Lanka like Buddism, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity.

When it comes to food, rice is the main ingredient. Apart from it, there is a lot of different food served on separate bowls which people choose to eat. A lot of Srilankan people eat with their right hand, but do not panic as they have cutlery in the restaurants. There are a lot of different fruit and vegetables which we cannot get in Europe. I was very lucky as my mother-in-law cooked for us, but if you have to eat out, be careful as there are lots of places which do not look safe to eat in. Just be careful.

Mango

Jackfruit

In Sri Lanka there are two main languages: Sinhala and Tamil and only then English. As you probably know Sri Lanka used to be a British colony and at that time Srilankan children were taught in English. That is why older generation can easily speak English. However, I was kind of shocked that young generation does not know English too well. I think that it is great that they have got their own native languages, but it is always good when you can speak English. Sri Lanka is famous for great weather, but it does not mean that it is always warm and the sun shines all the time there. There are monsoons in Sri Lanka which means a lot of rain. If there is monsoon in the east and north of Sri Lanka it is better to avoid beaches in that part of the country at that time, but use the beaches in the west and south coast instead. And if the monsoon is present in the south and and west coast, the beaches in the north and east are safe.

That's all from me about Sri Lanka. Hopefully my posts and photos will encourage you to visit this beautiful island on the Indian Ocean.

At the end of our stay in Sri Lanka we went to the Indian Ocean. After driving on normal roads we took the highway which leads to the south. The highway is very modern as it was opened not long ago. It is a toll highway, but it is very cheap for foreigners. However, I don't think it is so cheap for Srilankan people, but as there are more motocycles and three wheelers than cars so maybe it is not a big problem because they are not permitted on the highway anyways.

As there are not too many cars on the highway it is a very quick and enjoyable drive. Apart from that the landscapes on both sides of it are absolutely amazing as there is only beautiful nature with no buidlings. However, the most important is fact that thanks to the highway you can save a lot of time because travelling on normal roads in Sri Lanka takes so much time that is simply shocking, but unfortunately there are too many vehicles and not enough roads.

The first stop was in Galle, which used to be the Portuguese colony and later the Dutch one. The Portuguese fortified the city and the Dutch improved it. The Fort is quite impressive and I really enjoyed the city.

Unawatuna, which is located close to Galle, is famous for sandy beaches and popular among tourists.

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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”Mark Twain
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I am Polish currently living in the UK. I love taking photos and travelling so I decided to share some stuff with you.
Apart from Polish I can also speak English and Italian so feel free to share your ideas about travelling, photos and whatever you want with me.